Manuel Salazar

Manuel Salazar, affectionately known in Costa Rica as "Melico", was born in San José, Costa Rica in 1887 and at age 9 moved to the city of Cartago, where he started his singing studies.

In 1902, at age 15, he went on stage for the first time singing a secondary role in the zarzuela La marcha de Cádiz. During the next few years he made several appearances until the Costa Rican government awarded him a scholarship, and in 1907 he sailed to Italy.

In 1910 he returned to America, first with the Alfredo del Diestro Company and later on with the Lambardi Company, making his debut in the United States in 1911 singing Radamès in Verdi's Aida. He returned to Italy in 1913 where he made his debut in Vicenza in Lucia di Lammermoor. Later on, he sang Leoncavallo's Gli zingari under the composer's baton.

From 1913 to 1920, he was the principal tenor in Fortunato Gallo's San Carlo Opera Company. In 1921, shortly after Caruso's death, Gatti-Casazza, the legendary general manager of the Metropolitan Opera New York, attended an Aida in St. Louis with Salazar. At the end of the Nile scene, the tenor received a standing ovation and Gatti-Casazza went immediately to the dressing room and offered him a contract for the Met where he made his debut on 31 December 1921 alongside Rosa Ponselle. Later on, he also sang at that theater Pagliacci, Aida, Andrea Chénier and the 4th act of Il trovatore alongside singers such as Lucrezia Bori, Giuseppe De Luca, Claudia Muzio and Antonio Scotti, among others. Salazar closed the 1922 season singing La forza del destino with José Mardones and Frances Peralta. His last performance at the Met was on 19 March 1923 in Pagliacci in a ticket shared with Cavalleria rusticana with Lauri-Volpi and Ponselle, and finally on 22 April in concert.

In 1922, Salazar was chosen by George Eastman, the famous philanthropist founder of Eastman-Kodak, to inaugurate the Eastman Theater in Rochester, NY, singing Aida.

Salazar was not a very disciplined person and was not happy with the strong discipline Gatti-Casazza wanted and thus after two years, he decided to leave the Met for some time and joined the Bracale Opera Company where he became the main singer, while his escapades were tolerated. Unfortunately, this decision made the recording companies lose interest in recording him.

The tenor continued singing throughout Italy and North and South America during several years. At the urging of Toscanini, Salazar was invited to sing at La Scala in 1929. Contracts were signed and the announcement made, but at the last minute, US authorities prevented him from sailing due to legal issues, and the opportunity never arose again. In 1930, he settled in Mexico where he finally retired in 1937, returning to his native Costa Rica, where he devoted his time to teaching and producing operas until his death. His main roles were Otello, Radamès and Canio.

Melico Salazar was one of the greatest dramatic tenors of all times, but has been forgotten due to his scarce recorded legacy. However, every record collector and every connoisseur of the lyric art continues appreciating and treasuring his few recordings. For more than 60 years, only six recorded sides were known until in the mid 1990s, an "E Lucevan le Stelle" was found in the form of a test pressing that was never published, having been given by Salazar himself to his pupil Zacarías Mora.

During early 2000s, a large quantity of wax cylinders in practically virgin state recorded in 1912 was found in the vaults of the Edison National Historic Site, USA. Among these was a new recording by Salazar, "Ch'ella mi creda" from Puccini's La fanciulla del West.

In 1930 (or 1931?), Salazar made a film with scenes from Verdi's Otello, including both tenor/soprano duets with the soprano Lelane Rivera, and all of act 4. A copy of this film exists at the Costa Rican Ministry of Culture.

These eight recordings plus the film's sound track is all that is left of Salazar's voice, and it was all put toghether in a CD published by the Melico Salazar Theatre in San José, Costa Rica, to commemorate Salazar's 50th death anniversary.

Salazar's voice was very large, with a somewhat nasal middle register and easy and brilliant high notes, and a very clear diction. He insisted with his pupils that they should pronounce with great care and clarity to bring the voice out and prevent it from sounding guttural. At the same time, he insisted in the perfect knowledge of the words so they could transmit the sentiment and drama of the text to the public. These same characteristics of clarity and drama can be heard in his interpretations. In his music scores, the translation of every word into Spanish can be seen in his own writing, and he insisted to his pupils that they should do the same in their own scores to help them to the perfect understanding of the text.

Manuel Salazar died in San José on 6 August 1950.

I would like to thank Danilo Serrano for the biographical information.

I would like to thank Richard J Venezia for the recording (Agnus Dei).

I would like to thank Tom Kaufman for a copy of his unpublished chronology on Salazar.

Discography

Edison cylinders, trial, Milano, 1912
	La fanciulla del West (Puccini): Ch'ella mi creda	unpublished

Columbia, Milano, 1927
Bx 537	Otello (Verdi): Niun mi tema				D14561, CQX16511, L2365, 52062
Bx 562 	Tannhäuser: Col cor contrito				D14562, CQX16512, 52058
Bx 564 	Otello (Verdi): Dio, mi potevi scagliar			D14561, CQX16511, L2365, 52062
Bx 567 	Agnus Dei (Bizet)					D14562, CQX16512, 52058
B 2587 	La forza del destino (Verdi): La vita è inferno		D12314, 4022
B 2588 	La forza del destino (Verdi): O tu che in seno		D12314, 4022
B 2581 	Norma (Bellini): Meco all'altar di Venere		D12315, CQ998
B  ?   	Tosca (Puccini): E lucevan le stelle			unpublished  

From the film "Otello"(16 mm film, 41  minutes), Trans-Panamic Film Corp., 5 May 1930    
	Già nella notte densa, with Liliana Rivera
	Dio ti giocondi, with Liliana Rivera
	Ave Maria ... Niun mi tema with Liliana Rivera, soprano

Otello :   Manuel Salazar
Desdemona: Liliana Rivera (a.k.a. Lillian Clark)
Conductor: Angelo Maturo

All recordings reproduced on CD BCR-ARTE, 2000, 
issued by the Teatro Melico Salazar (San José de Costa Rica)

I would like to thank Juan Dzazópulos for the new discography.